Arlington resident's doughnut shop now a statewide star

Since having been voted best doughnut shop in Massachusetts, customers are flocking to the store.

Miranda Willson mwillson@wickedlocal.com @medford_trans

Passing through Medford Square, it could be easy to miss Donuts with a Difference, a small store squeezed between other local businesses on Riverside Avenue.

But as of late, business has been booming at the store – up by 50 percent on some days, says storeowner, baker and Arlington resident Steve Dulling. That’s because Donuts with a Difference was recently voted the best doughnut shop in Massachusetts by NBC Boston, beating larger, more well-known contenders such as Kane’s Donuts in Boston and Saugus and Boston’s Blackbird Doughnuts.

Dulling never expected his store would get some much attention when he opened it with his wife, Marilyn Dulling, nearly 34 years ago. He had worked at other doughnut shops as a baker, but eventually decided he wanted to run and own one himself.

“I just got tired of working for everybody else,” he said. “I thought I could do a good job on my own.”

Though having won the contest has increased the number of customers coming to get their doughnut fix, Dulling almost didn’t enter the contest in the first place.

“[When] they called and asked if we’d participate in the contest, I almost said no, because I had been getting a lot of stupid calls that week,” Dulling said. “I didn’t think for a minute I was going to win, just because the other doughnut shops are so much bigger. I thought they’d be able to get more votes without too much trouble.”

When Donuts with a Difference finally came out ahead of Kane’s Doughnuts at the end of November, Dulling wasn’t notified until the morning that NBC Boston made the official announcement.

“It’s all been very exciting,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of being on TV, but, oh well.”

Dulling believes that his donuts stand out from those of other shops because of their consistent taste and the fresh, high-quality ingredients he uses.

“We tend to make them in the morning, so a lot of times people get hot donuts when they come in,” he said.

Additionally, as the shop’s only baker, he knows exactly how to make each batch.

“I always buy the best stuff, too,” Dulling said. “You have to go with what you like. That’s kind of what I always do – buy the stuff I like and forget about the costs.”

With all the press around his shop, some owners might consider expanding their business. But Dulling hasn’t thought about growing the business for years.

“I’m just getting to the age where I don’t want to think about expanding,” he said.

He added that he does plan to find someone to take over the store for him when he retires – but that won’t be for at least several more years.

Looking back on the history of his store, business wasn’t always as booming as it is now, Dulling said.

When Donuts with a Difference first opened, over a dozen commercial trucks would come by every morning to pick up donuts. But Dulling said many of the companies that used those trucks have since gone out of business, forcing Donuts with a Difference to change its emphasis on quantity to quality.

Reorganizations and construction work in Medford Square, the opening of more Dunkin Donuts stores in the area and attitudes about the unhealthiness of donuts over the years have also hurt the business.

“There was a period of time where [people said] doughnuts were so unhealthy for you, the worst thing you could eat,” Dulling said. “I guess now they’re trending back. We’re not old anymore; we’re retro now.”

Dulling is pleased that the store has survived so many changes, and feels lucky to still be doing what he loves: making donuts that people enjoy.

“I don’t enjoy the big production part of it so much. I just like making them,” Dulling said. “I never hate going to work or anything.”

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